Ore­gon’s con­gres­sion­al del­e­ga­tion is final­ly whole again.

After hav­ing spent near­ly six months with­out rep­re­sen­ta­tion in Con­gress, vot­ers in the Beaver State’s 1st Con­gres­sion­al Dis­trict (which spans the north­west­ern part of the state) final­ly got the chance this month to choose a new rep­re­sen­ta­tive to serve them in the U.S. House. And tonight, with the first batch of bal­lots tal­lied and report­ed, it’s clear who their choice is: Demo­c­rat Suzanne Bonamici.

Bonam­i­ci, a for­mer state leg­is­la­tor, present­ly holds a com­mand­ing lead over Repub­li­can rival Rob Cornilles, accord­ing to results released just min­utes ago. She has a greater per­cent­age of the vote than all three of her oppo­nents combined.

Just take a look at these returns:

James Fos­ter: 3.11% (4,413 votes)
Rob Cornilles: 37.52% (53,215 votes)
Suzanne Bonam­i­ci: 55.97% (79,386 votes)
Steven Reynolds: 3.15% (4,473 votes)
Write-in Votes: 0.25% (348 votes)

Bonam­i­ci will suc­ceed David Wu, who resigned in dis­grace from the House last August only a few weeks after The Ore­gon­ian report­ed that he made unwant­ed sex­u­al over­tures towards the daugh­ter of one of his friends and cam­paign donors.

Pri­or to her cam­paign for Con­gress, Bonam­i­ci had won elec­tion three times to Ore­gon’s Leg­is­la­ture. She was elect­ed in 2006 to Ore­gon’s House, then lat­er appoint­ed to serve in Ore­gon’s Sen­ate. She suc­cess­ful­ly defend­ed her Sen­ate seat in 2008 and again in 2010.

Bonam­i­ci brings some diver­si­ty to the Pacif­ic North­west­’s con­gres­sion­al del­e­ga­tion, which is dom­i­nat­ed by men. (Pat­ty Mur­ray and Maria Cantwell are the region’s only female mem­bers, and they both serve in the Unit­ed States Sen­ate). She is expect­ed to be sworn into office in a few days.

Con­grat­u­la­tions to Suzanne and her cam­paign for win­ning tonight and win­ning big. Ore­gon’s 1st may be a Demo­c­ra­t­ic dis­trict, but no elec­tion is a sure thing.

We look for­ward to see­ing Suzanne join the House Demo­c­ra­t­ic cau­cus in the Oth­er Wash­ing­ton, and con­tribute to the well-being of our region.

About the author

Andrew Villeneuve is the founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute, as well as the founder of NPI's sibling, the Northwest Progressive Foundation. He has worked to advance progressive causes for over two decades as a strategist, speaker, author, and organizer. Andrew is also a cybersecurity expert, a veteran facilitator, a delegate to the Washington State Democratic Central Committee, and a member of the Climate Reality Leadership Corps.

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